BJODay's Blog at LumberJocks.comhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog
Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:21:18 GMTSide project #4: More Flagshttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/42213
Because I opted for a smaller version of the US flag, I had lots of ping pong balls left over. So I decided to make an Irish flag.

Then My wife protested until I told her I’d make her a Swiss flag, (Her pop emigrated from Switzerland).

Now I have to get them hung up before my granddaughter visits.

BJ

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Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:21:18 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/42213BJODayBJODaySide project #3: Finished flaghttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/42162
Decided on a smaller version of the flag. The original plan would end up too large.

Made a frame out of pine. Painted the frame and the backer board black. Glued the ping pong balls to the board with silicone.

The tables are nesting. They all fit within the largest table’s footprint.There are decorative slats on the sides of each table. if I were to do it over, I would add the slats to the rear of the tables also.

This is a view of the large table’s top. 20” square.

Middle size table. About 14” square.

The small table. About 9” square.

Only task left is to sand the top and give one more coat of poly. There are some minor abrasions from assembly. Plus I’m hoping to fill in some open grain.

New skills I learned and practiced:I worked from rough lumber. This is the first project where I planed all the wood.I used mortise and tenon joinery. Drilled out the excess and chiseled to final size. Tenons made on a router table.I mortised an area for the tiles to drop in the tops.The tabletops were mitered on my table saw using an incra mitering sled.

BJ

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Sun, 11 May 2014 18:22:34 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/41073BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #18: Assemblyhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40936
I started the prep for the assembly. I do not have a spray setup, nor do I want to try to learn how to do that at this time. I stained and varnished the pieces prior to assembly. The disadvantage is handling lots of loose parts. I also end up putting varnish on edges that need to hold glue. So I have to remove some of that varnish before gluing.

This is a spacer. There are 16 for the mid-sized table. You can see where I sanded the edge for the glue.

This is a decorative slat. I do not need a large glue surface. There is no load on these pieces. They are just decorative details. A small glue area will hold them just fine.

These are the slats and spacers for the mid-sized table. The large table has twice as many pieces.

I have to glue the rails into one leg first. If I glued up the slats and spacers into the rails first I could set the rail too close together, (I left some room to play in the length of the slats). By gluing the rails into one leg I lock in the distance between the rails.

This clamp up is deceiving. There is only glue on one side.

Here you can see I pulled apart the unglued side so I can slide the slats into the groove.

Here is the assembly of the spacers and slats on the small table.

It’s a bit tedious. I’ve been working on this project for a long time. I don’t want to rush now and do a sloppy assembly. So I do a little each night and save some for tomorrow.

BJ

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Tue, 29 Apr 2014 03:23:51 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40936BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #17: Ready for assembly, (almost)http://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40887
I’ve got the pieces for the tables all stained and varnished. Now I can assemble this puzzle.

But first, I have to clean up the stray varnish from the tenons and other glue surfaces. So a bit of sanding, one more dry fit and then I glue it up.

I have to make sure I don’t sand off the labels from the tenons. It only fits together one way. I’ve got it all labeled with numbers for the joints.

I’ll have to do it in sections. The decorative slats have spacers in between. It may be a bit messy getting them together.

BJ

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Fri, 25 Apr 2014 02:03:32 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40887BJODayBJODaySide project #2: Flag project time fillerhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40857
The main project currently in my shop is my nesting tables. My wife and I have them stained. I working on varnishing. I’m using a wipe-on poly before assembly. It is time consuming and I can only do a few of the parts at a time. So, while I’m between coats, I’ve been puttering around with a side project.

I saw this at a restaurant. It is an American flag made out of painted baseballs. I thought I’ll make a smaller version using ping pong balls. I found cheap balls online. They are not regulation, they are beer pong balls. I bought 3 gross.

This is the piece of birch ply I’ll build it on.

Here is a closer shot of the layout. I used a mechanical pencil. This is based on advice I’ve received on LJs. It did work better than a sharpened pencil.

After the board is laid out I drill with a 1/2” brad point bit. This is for an accurate start.

Next I’ll clean out the holes with a Forstner bit.

And Here is how the balls will fit in.

312 holes needed. This is a good filler project that I can pick up and put down without any fuss. I’m testing how to glue the balls in place. I know this really isn’t a wood working project but it is fun and it keeps me out of the tavern.

BJ

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Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:46:12 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40857BJODayBJODayStanley plane cleanup #1: Getting down to businesshttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40307
A year ago I cleaned up my two planes. One was a Stanley block plane. The other was an Ace Hardrware knock-off that I had purchased a few years ago. They cleaned up well and are usable planes.

After reading information here and on other sites I decided I should really try to find a used Stanley #5. The knock-off was similar to a #4. I thought this would be enough to equip my shop for my needs.

I started cruising CL and Ebay. My wife began wondering why I had a desire to walk through antique stores and looked longingly as we drove past rummages sales and flea markets. I mistakenly bought a 5-1/4 thinking it was a #5. I thought well, that’s OK. Later I found a #5, then a #3. I came across a good deal on a pair of #4s. Looking on CL I spotted what I thought was a #2, so I called and ran out to purchase it. It turned out to be a #1. A few weeks ago I found a reasonably priced #2 on Ebay.

This is the #1. I placed the age about 1923-1928.

This is the #2. I think it’s from the early 1900’s.

This is the #3.

These are the #4s. Two are serviceable. One is for parts.

This is the #5-1/4. It is a “Junior Jack Plane”. I wonder if I should curve the blade and make it into a scrub plane.

These are the two #5s. The front one is from the early 1900’s.

This is a #7. It is pretty rough. I probably should not have purchased it. It’s going to need lots of cleaning up.

My wife put her foot down and said I should clean up the ones I have before buying any more. I’m in about $400. I think I could cash out my pension and keep going. Who needs to eat?

I did a quick clean up on the #1. I started doing a serious clean up on the #3. I’ve found that it was a repaired plane. The tote is rosewood but the knob is not. The blade was replaced. It is stamped “Kunz” made in “West Germany”. That means the replacement part is over 20 years old.

I’m not trying to make these planes museum quality. I want planes that I will use and that’s my goal. This will be a long process. I will work on them in between other projects. I’ll post progress as it happens.

BJ

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Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:57:34 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/40307BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #16: A tighter miterhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/39814
It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).

The first top was cut at 45.2 degrees. There was a slight gap in the joint. I ran a few test pieces through. I adjusted the miter sled by 0.05 degrees. I’m not kidding. The best tests were at 45.15 degrees. If I was working in pine, the first cuts could have been clamped tight. But this is QSWO. I wanted them as close as possible because of limited flex in the WO.

This is the top I recut. It is 9” x 9”

This is the middle size table top. 14.5” x 14.5”

This is the large table top. 20” x 20”

All three for comparison. The first piece is at the very top. It wasn’t a wasted piece. I used it to test the glue up process and practice cutting the mortice. I used a Incra miter express sled for the miters. It made the cuts accurate and SAFE!

The glue up was tricky. I dry fit it all first. Then clamped one piece to the work bench. I then brushed glue on the mitered edges and set them together. Minimal clamping pressure. I was more concerned with keeping it flat so I clamped each piece to the table as I assembled the top. (sorry no pics). I used waxed paper to keep the mess manageable. That’s something I learned here at LJs.

After the glue up was finished I machined a camfered edge. The tables are A&C style. The plans called for a flat glue up with squared edges. I think this looks nicer.

The next step is to drop in the decorative tile in the center of each top. First I scribe the shape with a marking knife. The tiles are not perfectly square. Each mortice must match its tile.

Then I drill out the excess with a forstner bit. The small table fit in the drill press. These pics are the middle size, 14.5”, top. I had to drill this top with a cordless drill.

Now to clean out the mortice.

And the fit is good.

I’m wondering if anyone has advice for gluing the tiles to the tops. The bottom of the tiles are not glazed. I think any wood glue would work. Any thoughts or suggestions?

More to follow.

BJ

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Mon, 10 Feb 2014 03:11:57 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/39814BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #15: Mitering successhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38889
I had some problems cutting my mitered table top. I used an Incra miter gauge but had trouble holding the piece firmly. I have a shop built miter sled, but because the pieces are small, they don’t lie well against the fence.

I bit the bullet and bought the Incra miter express sled. I’m not doing a review here but I like the sled. I felt very safe using it. The only problem I had was binding in my miter slot. I have a Craftsman Hybrid TS. It has a granite top. I may have to file a little bit on the miter slot. I squared everything up and made some test cuts. Apparently I wasn’t quite true.

To make four 45 degree joints match up all the way around the top, (8 cuts), I had to set the saw at 45.2 degrees. For the two remaining tops I will set it at 45.15 degrees. This should fine tune it slightly. Very easy to adjust with the Incra miter.

Hey there’s a hole in the middle! Instead of trying to make a clean joint all the way to a center point, I thought I’d leave an opening. This will be filled with a ceramic tile of a celtic knot. I’ll cut a mortise and drop it in

This is a nesting table project with 3 small end tables. Each will have a tile in the center. 3×3 for the small table. 4×4 for the middle size. 6×6 for the largest top. Here is a cool advantage to using the internet. I was able to find an art studio in British Columbia run by John & Shannon Gresham. They had just what I was looking for. They were fast and inexpensive. This was for a small, (5 tile) order. 2,000 miles away, I paid using paypal. Before the web I would have had to put in many hours and lots of miles to find these tiles. Here is a link http://earthsongtiles.com

I’ll post more as things progress.

BJ

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Mon, 09 Dec 2013 18:23:52 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38889BJODayBJODaySide project #1: Intarsia maphttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38861
I came to a point where I was stuck on my table project. While pondering a solution to my current problem, I thought I would fill in the down time with something small.

I once saw an intarsia map. It was pretty cool looking. I thought that would be fun to do. So I started making a map of Wisconsin, with each county a separate piece of wood. My original idea was to use local woods. Red oak, maple and willow in the south. White pine, red pine and birch in the north. I abandoned this plan and thought it would look better, (and be easier), to vary the woods county to county.

The whole thing will be about 16” square. Right now I’m planning on mounting it on an undersized piece of hardboard, cut to the shape of the state. This may not work out. It may be better to mount it on a square piece of board. I could then paint the background black and frame it conventionally.

This is a small enough project that I can pack away and pull out easily.

It’s not a fancy scroll saw. Yes I really need the cheaters and the work light.

I’m always learning something. I have learned that scroll work is fun. I also realize that the scroll enthusiasts on this site are very skilled. I’m not, nor will I ever be up to “Scroll Girls” abilities. I’m not trying to knock myself out. I’ll keep it simple and try not to be too sloppy.

I’ll post more as the project progresses.

BJ

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Sat, 07 Dec 2013 02:36:33 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38861BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #14: Table top miter problemhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38664
The plans I’m following call for table tops made up of glued-up boards. I have some very nice Qsawn oak boards with very straight grain. I thought it would look better if I mitered and rotated pieces along the board so the grain would “follow” around the perimeter of the tops.

I like my miter saw so I cut the boards for the smallest table using it. Well for some reason I got some flex in my blade so the cut is not perfectly straight. I’m using a thin kerf 12” blade.

I can match the inside:

I can match the outside:

But I can’t match both! I’ll come back to this problem later.

I purchased an Incra Miter 1000 a few months ago. My reason for the purchase was to use it for cutting small blocks for cutting boards. I thought I’d give it a try for this table top.

Well I had squared it up but I must have been off a smidge. Going around the top this added up to 4 smidges.

I squared it up again. This time I did a test piece using some pine. I had trouble holding the piece firmly against the miter gauge fence. It is a small piece and the slight pull makes the miter inaccurate. The fix for this is to buy or make a sled to attach the miter gauge to. This way I could clamp the piece to the sled and hold the piece without putting my fingers at risk. I could buy the Incra sled. My wife will be happier if I make one.

While cutting the pine scrap pieces to run my test, (I cut them close to size using the miter saw), I noticed the miter saw making noise. It sounded like a piece of wood or a chip was wedged up under the blade guard. I unplugged the saw and checked. The guard was clear. I checked the blade and found it was loose. This explains my curved miter cuts. I also realized the blade is pretty dull.

So a new blade this weekend. I’ll think about the sled a little bit more.

BJ

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Sat, 23 Nov 2013 02:50:02 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38664BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #13: Fixing one mistake, creating anotherhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38340
I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.

Now the mortise.

Gluing it in place.

Protect the sides and cut with a flush saw.

Well shoot, this didn’t work too well. The saw dug in. I had trouble controlling it’s path. I’m sure it’s operator error. Unfortunately it may be too deep to sand. I’m not sure how I’ll fix it. (suggestions welcome)

When I’m stumped I move on. Below is the second mortise to repair. I cut the mortise with a little more care. I made a clean shelf for the key to rest upon.

It fit better so I glued it in place.

This time I used a block plane to make it flush. Then sanded by hand. Looks a lot better.

This is how I’ll make the last two repairs.

BJ

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Thu, 31 Oct 2013 14:01:01 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38340BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #12: Scroll workhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38331
The tables have some 0.25” slats on the sides. The center slat is 3” wide and has a decorative slot cut into it. The straight part was cut on the router table. The curved ends were cut on a scroll saw.

I bought the scroll saw on CL last winter. It is a Craftsman. This is the first time I used it on a project. I had trouble setting the blade tension. When mounting the blades I set them completely into the clamp. But then there was no play for the tensioning screw. So I had to mount the blades with the clamp rotated forward so the blade could extend past the clamp. I’m sure this isn’t correct but it worked. The manual’s pictures were not very detailed.

I xeroxed the pattern and pasted it onto the slat so I could follow the shape with the saw. I didn’t like the way this worked. So on the rest I drew the shapes by hand and followed the pencil line. This worked better for me.

Like cutting mortises, the first ones were a little rough. The last two turned out much cleaner. I dressed them up with a small rasp and sanded the inside edges to 150 grit.

BJ

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Wed, 30 Oct 2013 02:54:27 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38331BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #11: Tenon dry fit, oopshttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38180
All of the tenons are cut and fit. Not perfect but the last ones went much better than the first few.

I got wrapped up in laying out and cutting the mortises. Later I realized there is no lower rail on the front of the two larger tables. (they cannot nest if there is a rail in front). I’ve got some walnut. I think I’ll use to plug the mortise. Maybe the contrasting color will make it look like I meant to do it. I may try to cut it as a bow-tie key.

Next up is is some decorative slats for the sides. I’ll follow up with more pics then.

BJ

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Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:33:30 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38180BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #10: Tenon troublehttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38135
The tenons went well on the smallest table. I had some trouble with the tenons on the mid-sized table. I was careful to cut them very close to the size of the mortises. Some were cut too tight. I had trouble on the dry fit. I had to squeeze the joints together with clamps. The table was tweaked slightly and was not square. I pulled it apart and hand sanded the tenons to loosen the fit a little bit. The second dry fit was much better.

(I posted this problem and received lots of good advice in the joinery forum, thanks guys).

Here was the procedure I used:Cut a little off each tenon,Check the fit of each tenon to its respective mortise,Mark any that fit “OK”,Cut a little off the rest of the tenons,Check the fit of each tenon to its mortise, etc.

Not very efficient or enjoyable. Lots of fumbling with the legs to find the correct mortise.

I started working on the tenons for the largest table. I changed my procedure. I worked on only one tenon at a time. This way I kept the mortise handy. When I finished one tenon, I reset the router table bit depth and started on the next tenon. It worked much better and was very enjoyable.

I’m about half done. I post some pictures when I do the dry fit.

BJ

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Sat, 12 Oct 2013 01:26:35 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38135BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #9: Making tenonshttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38071
I began cleaning out the mortises. I followed BTimmons advice to start slow and sneak up on the line. I had to find my strongest “cheaters” and a work lamp. I don’t know what I ever did to ruin my eyesight. This worked well. I cleaned up all of the mortises for the smallest table. They do not look as clean as ones I’ve seen posted here and on Youtube but each one is smoother than the previous one.

I was a little nervous about finishing all of the mortises so I thought I’d make the tenons for the first table. This way I can evaluate my work as I’m doing it.

I’m making the tenons on a router table. It has a Jessum lift and is very repeatable. The first pair I made seemed a bit sloppy. I have to remember that if I take off 0.004” of an inch, it really doubles because I take it off both sides. So on the second pair I was working a little more cautiously.

This is how the tenons feed through the router bit when cutting the cheeks:

This worked fine. This is how it feeds through when cutting the shoulder:

Not so good! The bit pulled the piece into the gap of the fence very slightly:

I’m glad I was ruining small pieces. I closed the gap and started fresh:

I remade the sloppy piece and the new one turned out well. Then I made three more pieces that are the apron for the table. It’s a lot of minute cuts but they fit snugly. I realized I have to be very careful marking the pieces. It is easy to flip them or rotate them. So I marked “Top”, “Left” “Right”, “Front” and “Back”. Each tenon is individually fit. So when I finished a tenon I marked it “OK”. while I continued on the opposing tenon.

BJ

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Fri, 04 Oct 2013 03:49:50 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38071BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #8: Motiseshttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38047
I’ve started on the end table project. It is a set of three nesting end tables. They are Mission style. The plans are from a Wood magazine book.

I have planed and cut the lumber. I glued up the pieces for the legs.

I laid out the mortises. That was a lot of work. I was setting up the drill press to dill out the mortises when I realized that not only are the top mortises the same, but the bottom mortises are all the same distance from the bottom of the legs. Even though they are farther apart from their respective top joints. This made it possible to have two set-ups. One for the top joints and a second for the bottom joints.

I used the fence stop to drill the first hole. By using a fence stop I realized how much my pencil lines varied.

I used the fence stop to drill the first hole. I used a 7/8” spacer to drill the second hole. 1.25” – 0.375” = 0.875”

I drilled all of the mortise end holes first.

Then I started drilling out the area in between.

Next I’ll start chiseling out the mortises. 48 joints. This will take some time. I’ve sharpened the chisels. My practice joints looked sloppy. I hope to improve on the actual joints.

I purchased the drill press last winter on CL. It needed a new spindle. I made a table and fence for it. This is the first project I’ve used it on. It has worked great. These are my first M&T joints. I hope they turn out well.

I’ll follow when I start on the tenons.

BJ

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Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:33:04 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/38047BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #7: Dressing up rough lumberhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/37997
Well I felt like I did enough practicing with scrap. I decided to clean up the QS white oak for my end tables.

I started by cutting most of it down to 60” and 40” lengths. I left 4 pieces full length, (96” – 102”). This made it easier to handle. I ran each piece through the jointer. Made a flat face and a square edge to it. I had some minor problems using the jointer. I would feed, then change my hand placement and feed the rest of the way through. When I did this I would get a snipe mark where I paused.

I then planed them down. I started slow, running each piece through even though some only shaved a little bit off the ends. After a few passes I had brought it down so I was planing the whole length. I slowed the machine down and only took off 1/32” each pass. I flipped the boards and cleaned off some of the snipe marks from the jointer. I did not get any snipe from the planer. I have followed Loren’s advice to raise the ends of the feed tables 1/16”.

The boards look great. This was my first experience starting with rough sawn lumber.

Some off the boards need to be 1/4” thick. I ripped these to width, set up my table saw and resawed them in two passes. I did not like resawing with the table saw. Some day I’ll get a band saw for this type of work. After resawing I planed them down to 0.25”. This is the only problem I had using the planer. A piece broke off the tail end and flipped up through the blades, made alot of noise and went out the dust chute. I opened the top and checked for damage. I couldn’t find any. The rest of the planing went well with no obvious marks from the blade so I guess I got lucky.

I’m very happy with the planer, (DeWalt 735). This opens up a greater selection of lumber for me to buy. I look forward to using a wider variety of woods in the future.

BJ

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Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:11:54 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/37997BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #6: Planed wood, not scraphttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/37940
I was ready to start on my end tables but I wanted to practice first. The end tables are quarter sawn oak. I don’t want to screw up so I need to experiment with a cheaper project first.

I will also be making an intarsia project. For a long time I have wanted to make a map of Wisconsin with each county cut from a separate piece of wood. I know it’s not very original but I’ve seen a finished project and it looked pretty cool.

I bought some shorts from the lumber yard. These were rough cut 4/4 about 2 feet in length. I bought maple, walnut, birch, hickory, red oak and poplar. I used the joiner to square up two sides. Then I ran them through the planer to 5/8” thickness. This is my first time working with rough cut lumber. The planer worked great. No snipe or tear out. The grain looks great. I feel more confident about using the planer now so I’ll start planing the lumber for my end table project. I will work on the map project in between. It shouldn’t take much thought and should be a good diversion project when I’m not up to being very fussy on the end tables.

My cyclonic chip collector worked well. I filled up quick. It’s surprising how many chips you can make using the joiner and planer.

BJ

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Sun, 22 Sep 2013 04:05:57 GMThttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/37940BJODayBJODayTrying new woodworking skills #5: Miter stationhttp://lumberjocks.com/BJODay/blog/37844
Before I move onto my next real project, I’ve decided to rearrange my workshop to be more efficient. For the last 8 years I’ve had my miter saw on a table in the middle of the shop. Every time I cut a board > 36” I am catching it before it falls off of the table. Just waiting for an accident to happen.

This is the old layout. There is a nice table under all that junk:

This is the new station:

I use bins to store seldom used tools. I have one for electrical stuff, one for plumbing, two for painting. These were stacked up in a corner and anytime I needed anything it was always in the bottom bin. Now I can pull out any bin without disturbing the others. I also added drawers. I love drawers.

The biggest advantage is I now have an open table. It was salvaged from my old job. It has a stainless steel top. I think it will be perfect for glue-ups.

This is how it looks now:

While building the miter station I ran into a few problems with the drawers. The miter station is 3 pieces. Left wing, center and right wing. They were assembled separately but are leveled and screwed together as a single piece. This way I can have a ruler on the fence that will stay calibrated to the blade. I must have tweaked the center cabinet slightly out of square. There is a nasty hump in the concrete floor along the wall and I shimmed to level it up.

Anyhow, when I mounted the drawer slides I had to mess around to make them “square to the front” not “square to the sides” of the cabinet. If I had kept the cabinet square while mounting, I could have squared to either side. This was a pain because as I get older it is getting more difficult to sit on the floor, reach into a cabinet and adjust drawer slides. (When I made my kitchen cabinets I worked from the top before the counter was installed.)

On the deep drawers of the center cabinet, I had a different problem. I made the drawers from 1/2” pine ply from Home Depot. I should have gone to a plywood distributor in town, but I was lazy. The ply had a slight bow. I didn’t think it would hurt. I made my drawer tolerances pretty tight. The two lower drawers were tight because they bowed out. Well I could leave it and hope it would wear into place but no. I need practice fixing mistakes, (I make a few). So I took off the slides, clamped a piece of MDF along the side. I used my block plane to shave off the bulge under the drawer slide. To my surprise it worked, Yay!. The ply planed very well.

Next entry should be the start of my real project, Nesting end tables.